North Goa Court Acquits Nigerian National in 15-Year-Old Narcotics Case

Panaji: A North Goa court acquitted Nigerian national Manday Felix Odede in a narcotics case, 15 years after he was arrested at Calangute. No independent witnesses were examined.
The 465g of a narcotic worth Rs 23.3 lakh found on him was found to be cocaine after chemical analysis. However, the 45g of MDMA worth Rs 90,000 tested positive in the spot test but negative after it was sent for chemical analysis.
“The prosecution failed to prove the yellow powder allegedly found in the possession of the accused was MDMA,” observed North Goa additional sessions judge, Sharmila A Patil.
The court further observed that the evidence of police witnesses was full of discrepancies and could not be considered in the absence of independent witnesses. No independent pancha witnesses were examined to prove the raid, it stated. It added that as they are residents of Goa, their presence could have been secured or at least some efforts made to produce them before the court. “In matters of NDPS cases where punishment is stringent, the proof required is also stringent,” the court stated.
Although a police witness gave a “detailed narration of the manner in which the raid was conducted”, in the cross-examination, a very convenient answer was given by this witness with respect to the material facts of the raid, as ‘I do not remember’, which does not corroborate the facts mentioned in his chief examination, the court observed. “If he was present at the time of the raid, these details could have been deposed by him in the same manner in which he deposed the facts in his chief examination,” it observed.